Training Saves Lives

From left to right: Monty Millermon, Gary Bolles, and Renaldo (Ray) Galindo.

Mohave County’s Traffic Control Division employees attended a Safety Training program last month in which they learned how to perform a number of first response procedures from CPR to administering first aid during a suspected medical emergency. Three Mohave County Traffic Control Division employees, whom attended the program, happened to be in the right place at the right time in order to take the information they learned to help save the life of a Mohave County resident this past month. “These three employees involved in this incident deserve recognition for their courage and quick thinking that helped saved a young gentleman’s life,” Supervisor Buster Johnson stated.

Gary Bolles, Monty Millermon and Renaldo (Ray) Galindo were working on installing thermoplastic at the intersection of Camp Mohave Road and Mountain View Road in Fort Mohave when they observed a car pull up to a cluster box unit of mailboxes across the street from where they were working. According to County Traffic Control Signing Supervisor Gregg Whaley, Bolles noticed a young gentleman exit his vehicle to retrieve mail from one of the boxes. Upon doing so, the gentleman seemed to be intoxicated due to the fact he was stumbling and nearly falling to the ground. “The first thing Bolles did was contact the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office to report the incident,” Whaley stated.

According to Whaley, while still on the phone to dispatch, Bolles approached the vehicle to try and prevent the gentleman from leaving. According to Bolles, the gentleman was attempting to eat a piece of chocolate and represented all the signs of someone having a diabetic attack. “Bolles took the knowledge and information he learned from the safety training program in an attempt to help the gentleman,” Whaley explained. Bolles notified dispatch of what was going on and they radioed Fort Mohave Fire to the scene. According to Whaley, Bolles was able to take the keys from the gentleman and the three employees stayed with him until emergency personnel arrived.
According to Supervisor Johnson, this specific incident is exactly why the county offers these safety program to their employees. “The actions taken by our county employees that day probably saved this young gentleman’s life,” Johnson ended.